Leave Her to Heaven
by psychicbunny
Summary: A look into the unique friendship of Naruto and Sakura and the hardships that they must encounter. [random oneshots]


**Leave Her to Heaven**

**Part One: A Wake**

* * *

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause: there's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover'd country from whose bourn

No traveler returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remember'd.

-Hamlet, Act III, Scene i, _The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark_

* * *

She said that she lost all bets.

And yet, as Sakura watched the funeral procession for Jiraya, she could not help reflecting on the irony of the situation: her teacher's last bet was her only right one; unfortunately, it had concerned the life of a man she had come to love over the years. Sakura shook her head as she watched Tsunade, her broken form bent over the lifeless body of her last teammate, mourn Jiraya's death. As much as she wished that she could be with all her loved ones, Sakura knew Tsunade's time was drawing to a close. Orochimaru, gone, defeated by his own pupil; Jiraya, gone, defeated by his own pupil; Tsunade was the last one living, but they were the three legendary Sannin. Once the team divided, they never reformed; only in death would they meet.

Sakura could feel the weight of Death looming over Tsunade. From her years spent at the hospital, she could now discern which patients would leave this earthly prison for that pure paradise, and Tsunade had Death waiting on her shoulder for the right time. Tears blurred her vision: how would Tsunade leave? Not at the hands of a pupil, would she? In order for the beloved woman to leave at the hands of a pupil, it would mean that either she or Shizune would betray Tsunade, and that would not happen. Would it be from a broken heart? All those she loved dearly—her brother, Dan, Orochimaru, Jiraya—had all left her alone in this world. Happy, fairy tale endings were a distant dream for most powerful nin because the monotony of such a promised ending did not suit their personalities.

Next to her, Naruto shifted before wrapping an arm around her delicate frame. "When will this pain end?" he asked.

"If Pein has his way, it'll end with the destruction of humanity," Sakura whispered back. "You know clearly as I do that humans are not meant for peace; it is through warfare that we grow and expand our capabilities, only to destroy ourselves through the knowledge gained."

Naruto's lucid blue eyes, once sunny with hope and joy, now gray with despair and pain, observed the grim lines that marred Sakura's young features. "But there is always hope, so long as we believe there is," he told her, squeezing her tightly. "We have to believe that there is a future out there for us filled with love and happiness."

She suppressed her tears and instead, shuddered breaths came. "Naruto, what do you think will happen to us? Will we be condemned to their fate?" she asked as she watched the procession halt before the pyre.

"Our fates are in our hands," Naruto replied. "Our fates are not predetermined."

"But they were the legendary Sannin; the legendary hermits," Sakura told him. "They were told that they would live their lives as hermits, forever alone in this world, and look where they are now."

Naruto's eyes grew downcast as he watched the placement of Jiraya's body atop the pyre. "We can fight it, Sakura. We will fight it."

"I'm not sure if I can," she whispered brokenly. "I do not know if that is the path for me."

"Why not?" he demanded as the flames jumped, soaring to the heavens above in little time. "You promised that you would never be left behind."

"A woman who dreams a man's dreams has no ambition," Sakura replied. "I need to find my own path, my own way."

A heavy sigh came from Naruto as he watched Tsunade collapse. "At least we'll always have each other, ne Sakura?"

"I suppose."

A few moments of silence ensued. Then, "Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

A few more moments of silence. "I love you, too, Naruto."

* * *


End file.
